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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Persistent thumb sucking

14 replies

Living · 01/03/2015 19:01

DD is four and a persistent thumb sucker (and hair twiddler) and I'm wondering if anyone has ideas on how to get her to stop! We've tried:

chat from me/dentist about how it's bad for her teeth
discussions about how she's a big girl now
plasters over the thumbs (she just sucks anyway)
that horrible stuff painted on - worked for a while but now she's worked out she can suck it off!

When I talk to her she seems to get it but it's such an ingrained habit/ comfort thing she doesn't seem able to stop.

Any ideas?

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ExitStageLeft · 01/03/2015 19:04

By persistent, do you mean she's doing it all the time, or that she's still doing it at 4?

What's your main concern with her doing it?

Pocket1 · 01/03/2015 21:23

Watching with interest as dd is also a thumb sucker...

SandorClegane · 01/03/2015 21:28

I'm 36 and I still suck my thumb. Hasn't held me back in life or disfigured me in any way.

Looserella · 01/03/2015 21:37

Another thumbsucker here - aged 38. I love doing it, it makes me happy. Only at home though and mainly in bed. My teeth are perfect.

Willabywallaby · 01/03/2015 21:53

DS2 (6) knocked out his front adult tooth in September, it was put back in but was imperative he stopped his thumb sucking. We had been trying the nail stuff and plasters previously. One of my BILs who's an orthodontist suggested socks on his hands. He didn't like not be able to scratch his willy so I got him eczema gloves which we taped on with masking tape. He loved the gloves, although I have recently caught him sucking again so they've gone back on.

RandomMess · 01/03/2015 21:58

did the socks on hands things overnight but she was erm 9ish at that point!!

Mine didn't suck during the day just for going to sleep - I guess I constantly reminded them "thumb out"

MarionHaste · 01/03/2015 22:22

DD was 6. I told her that if she could go two weeks without once sucking her thumb then we could get a rabbit. Three weeks later I had to fulfil my promise. Bunny lived with us for ten years :)

Fiddlerontheroof · 01/03/2015 22:27

42, still thumb sucking here :) ...I'd not worry about it for the moment, go through painting her thumb with anti nail stuff, thumb guards etch like my parents did when I was 9... Then. Realise it's futile. She'll either drop it or not.

My teeth are also perfectly straight , x

Original poster

Living · 02/03/2015 02:36

Thanks all. By persistent i mean all the time - we're not just talking bedtime / when she's tired. She's known at school for it!

I always thought shed just drop it when she was ready but she's showing no signs and the dentist says her teeth are moving.

OP posts:

littlejessie · 02/03/2015 02:43

My DD is exactly the same aged 7.

chaosisawayoflife · 02/03/2015 14:23

My dd (6) was a very persistent thumb sucker. We tried lots of different things but what was successful in the end was a Thumbsie. After about a week she only needed it at night and after 3 weeks she'd stopped completely. It was amazing. She did sort of want to stop, or at least knew she had to which helped as she could have taken them off if she wanted to, but they really worked for us.

NunoBettencourt · 02/03/2015 14:32

Dentist told us there are active and passive thumb suckers. The active ones will affect their teeth.

DC1 was an active thumb sucker. She only did it at night past around 5yo then we started to see her front teeth were moving. She wanted to stop as well (7/8yo by this point). We tried the nail paint stuff but the thing that worked in the end was just a tissue folded up over her thumb and shaped into place with micropore tape and then stuck down over her thumb at the bottom. Would last a few nights then would need to make another. She never tried to pull it off so she could suck her thumb and it wasn't something you could suck over the top of iyswim. Probably helped her being a bit older though.

Bumblebeezzy · 03/03/2015 11:41

I suck my thumb, mainly at night or tired. My parents tried everything.

My daughter (almost 3) sucks her thumb as well. I pay no attention to it. My theory is that if you don't say anything about it, their attention is not focussed on it, and it's more likely to go away.

The less fuss about it, the better IMHO.

If it doesn't, fine, it never hurt me :)

fizzycolagurlie · 04/03/2015 03:25

I would tackle it when she is 5-6 maybe get her a thumb guard (fabric) for overnight?

I made my DS look at his teeth in the mirror and showed him how they were starting to stick out a little due to the thumb sucking. He asked for a thumb guard for night times and stopped immediately.

And I had tried everything before - even offering him a new bicycle - I was quite desperate.

Because of the thumb sucking he picked up so many more illnesses, it was a nightmare.

But he stopped and we're done and his teeth are great.

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